Arty} Just a case of girl meets boy... {Kat

Like Raffietti, as the game drew closed to its end Rokam let his attention drift from the conversation and focused intently on the game. The bets were rising slowly as they circled round the table, but the gambling was interspersed with people shaking their heads and folding. When it came to his turn, the card dragon tilted his head and scrutinised his opponents. Some of them were staring into space or talking to each other in mutters, but the majority of them were watching him, or glaring at their cards as if the look could change the numbers written on them.
'I'll raise again,' Rokam suggested with a quick grin. This prompted another fold, but most of the other players matched his bet. Another two men called, before the game rolled back around to Raffietti. She was holding a stiff position, sitting upright and gazing down at her cards with a blank, emotionless poker face. He said nothing, but watched her, shuffling his front paws more directly underneath him and taking up a similarly straight position.

“Call.” Raffietti said shortly, matching the current bet. She could tell from Rokam’s determination that he had won, but she still wanted to take it to the end. She had enough money on the table already – what was the extra bet now? Either way, one of the men had indicated that he’d buy the next round of drinks anyway, which meant she wouldn’t need the money she lost.

No one but Rokam was still raising, so as soon as he called the game would be over. That, in Raffi’s mind, meant that she could relax a little – she knew she wasn’t going to fold, and she had a feeling that the steely look in her eyes was telling everyone else that she wouldn’t either. That meant that she could risk settling into her place, and loosen her expression a little. She was still giving nothing away, but now instead of her tight-lipped concentration, she was showing a friendly, vacant smile. She was also tapping her claws on the floor and cracking off the drying bits of river mud, but she didn’t think anyone had noticed that. She gave one last look around.

Rokam looked very serious, she noted, but most of the men still playing had a look of amusement on their face. It looked like they had resigned themselves to loosing now, and were just going to enjoy the rest of the ride. Not a single one looked like he had faith in his cards, but with Rokam there she didn’t blame them. Why had she never met him before? It seemed impossible, and actually quite a shame now that she considered it. He was nice – a little naïve, and undeniably young, but sweet.

It didn't look like anyone else was raising, so Rokam flicked his horns and cheerily asked,
'Everyone done?' A round of mutters and nods confirmed it, and so he leant down to flip over his cards over. The other players did the same, revealing various fairly mediocre hands. Rokam, on the other hand, had a straight flush sitting plainly before him. Several of the men rolled their eyes and began pushing their bets towards him, which he accepted with a wide smile.
'Thank you, thank you,' he told them, removing the correct amount to pay for his meat from the enrously sized pile before nudging it slightly away from him. 'I'll just go and pay quickly.' He weaved his way over to the bar and handed over the coins before returning to his place at the table.
'How did you do, Raffietti?' he asked her, peering over at her cards across the table. 'Oh... And I really don't need any money today, here...' He split the coins into enough equally sized piles for every player around the table and pushed them over, giving Raffietti a smile as he delivered her share.

Raffietti watched Rokam get up and pay for his meat – true to his word, eh had managed to pay the barkeep back within just a single round. Now she understood why he had been so willing to accept Rokam’s promise of money when he got it. She smiled – he must really have known what he was doing there – a royal flush was as good as it got, so she had a feeling he must have done /something/ to influence the game. However, she didn’t say anything about it, and smiled her congratulations to him when he returned to his seat.

His next move, however, astonished her. She was used to playing against humans – and greedy ones at that – who could hardly manage to dip into their winnings to pay for a round of drinks. The mere idea of him returning the winnings seemed impossible, and she couldn’t quite get her head around it.

“You must be the most honest, giving dragon I’ve ever met.” She said quietly as he passed her a share of the coins. She returned his smile, quite awestruck, before her nose started to tickle. The tavern was quite dusty, and a speck of the stuff must have gotten into her nose. She twitched her nose, blinking, before letting out the most ridiculous little squeak. She hated sneezing – hers sounded so pathetic.

She ducked under the table to have another drink, thoroughly embarrassed, before peeking over the edge of the table feeling a little pink under her fur. She was feeling all muddled, and the sneeze had made her head feel funny. She tossed the thought out of her head, and settled back in her place, pretending nothing had happened, and looked around, sweeping the dusty floor with her feathery tail behind her as she did so.

It was Rokam's turn to flush at Raffietti's quiet compliment. He felt immensely thankful that his scales didn't let his blood show through like human skin as he looked awkwardly down at the table.
'Coins are more of an inconvenience than anything else,' he explained. 'I don't have anywhere good to keep them. Besides... Nobody would play me if I just robbed them every time.' He shrugged uncomfortably before swiftly changing the subject. 'Anyway, do-'
He was interrupted by her sneeze, which made him smile slightly. He struggled to suppress the expression as she ducked down, obviously embarrassed, but by the time she resurfaced he had his face under control. 'You've finished your drink, right?' he asked her, swallowing the last of his meat. 'Do you want to-'

Yet again, he didn't get to finish, a shudder suddenly running along the length of his spine. He instinctively leapt to his feet, knocking over several stools and rocking a table alarmingly, before forcing himself back to a rigid sitting position. He stayed in this tense pose for several moments more, his head bowed and eyelids squeezed shut as his horns pressed back against his head. Eventually, he let out a long sigh, stretched his neck and glanced apologetically round at the overturned furniture.
'Sorry,' he murmured, shuffling his paws, before turning to Raffietti with an odd expression. He regarded her silently for a few seconds, turning over words in his head, before sighing again and shaking his head. 'I need to talk to you,' he told her. 'Would you mind coming for a walk with me? Along the river or something. This would be easier to explain somewhere... less distracting.' He glanced around the crowded, noisy room, and then returned an inquiring gaze to Raffietti.

Raffietti had never thought of that before – that most dragons had nowhere to keep coins, that was. She always carried a little leather pouch, in case of emergencies, but it was rare to see a dragon actually carrying anything much. She recovered quickly from the embarrassment of her little pathetic sneeze, and was just about to settle down for the next round of cards when Rokam shuddered, knocking over a stool near her, along with a few others around them.

“Are you alright?” she asked, as Rokam loosened up again. He looked uneasy, and she was a little worried. She returned his gaze with silent concern for a moment, before he finally spoke again. He sounded serious, so Raffietti nodded in response.

“Yes, of course, that will be fine. The river’s not far away either – it’s just outside the city wall.” She said calmly, looking at the door. She wondered what had happened, not understanding what had made Rokam shudder and seize up like that: as far as she could see nothing in the room had changed. If he had to explain in private it must have been important, though, so she had no complaints about following him outside. She stood up, ready to follow Rokam once he was ready to leave.

With a sigh of relief, Rokam headed for the door, gesturing Raffietti to follow him.
'There's nothing wrong with me,' he assured her. 'It's... well, not exactly normal, but not abnormal.' Shoving the door open with his front paws, he held it for the lifeblood before exiting himself, waving a farewell to the tavern's occupants. 'I told you I can predict the future. That's intentional- I try to look for the possibilities of the future, picking out what I want to see. But it's also hard to see what's most likely, if I can even find what I'm looking for. It works a lot better if I'm with Jaden. Then I get a constant stream of information running through my head unless I block it out- and I'm not very good at that yet- which is generally too uncertain to tell me anything. But sometimes I get hit by a wave of possibilities, which are usually quite similar and quite definite. That's what happened to me in there.' He looked around uneasily, before redirecting their path towards the city gate and adding in a low tone, 'I saw... Well, I'm not entirely sure. But I'm sure you're going to be there. I'd rather talk about it outside the city.'

Raffietti followed him out of the bar; giving the humans a broad smile as she left, before cocking her head a little to one side to listen. She nodded silently as he explained, piecing together the bits she understood until she could get her head around what Rokam was saying. His powers seemed so mystical, and she wasn’t sure how they worked in the slightest, but she understood him well enough.

“Well, the gates will be closed, but I know another way down to the river – talk and walk maybe?” she suggested, still thinking. So, he’d just had a sudden sort of… picture of the future, and he was sure she was there, but didn’t know? That sounded… confusing. She didn’t really know what to make of it either. Her interest was gripped, however, and she was turning over the possibilities in her head already. She could imagine knowing Rokam for a long time – he was a very likable dragon, and she had to admit she was already very fond of him. However, what could he have seen that was so confusing? She couldn’t wait to hear more, once they were out of earshot properly.

The river ran in an arc around most of the south-west part of the city, and although she usually used the gate to get to it, there was a handy break in the wall that could be used in an emergency, not too far from where they were. It would only take five minutes to reach the wall, and then the river should be easily in sight. “Well, you’ll have to tell me more. Was it a good sort of future?” she asked curiously, nodding in the direction of the break in the wall, indicating that they should probably start walking.

"Oh... Of course they'll be closed." Feeling extremely stupid, Rokam sheepishly turned to follow Raffietti in the direction she had indicated. He really was making a fool of himself. He took advantage of the brief silence which followed to organise his cluttered thoughts somewhat, figuring out what exactly he was going to say to the lifeblood. He felt terribly awkward walking next to her now, glancing furtively over at her and wondering what sequence of events could lead to the future he had seen. It was one of the most difficult things he had done to retain his composure when he had just been shown the two of them with a nest of eggs. Of course, there was the possibility that it would never come to pass, but it had seemed like a likely thing. He couldn't imagine himself a father; errantly, he wondered what offspring they would have. A card dragon? Some strange crossbreed? It would surely have bizarre powers- fate and blood magics were both odd types, and when mixed together it would make for something very strange. Or maybe they would just have blood magic... Or indeed fate magic, though that would have to be different from that of card dragons somehow.

Suddenly realising that Raffietti had asked him a question, Rokam shook his thoughts off and stared glassily at her for a few moments before her words filtered through.
'Oh, right. Um... Well, hard to tell. It didn't seem like too bad a kind of future. There was... something we were trying to find, I think.' He flicked his horns as he tried to remember what had been happening in the fragmented different images of the future. "Something... magical, I think. It was important, but I don't know why..." Annoyed by his lack of knowledge, the card swung his tail around his legs and looked up at the gap in the wall ahead. 'It's... just hard to tell. But I think this is going to happen." His face entirely serious, he turned back to Raffietti.

Raffietti leaped over the broken but of wall to sit on the other side, listening as Rokam started to explain what he’d seen. It sounded very confusing, and she wasn’t surprised that he didn’t quite understand it, but he looked a little shaken by it all. Maybe it was just weird for him, seeing bits of the future like that. Yes, that made sense, so she didn’t question it.

“Well, if it seemed important, and you think it is going to happen anyway, why don’t we go looking for it? Did you see where we were?” she asked, her fur a little fluffy to keep the cold off her, making her look younger and cutesier than usual. She felt like this was all going to lead to an adventure, and she liked adventures. They were like games, but bigger, and somehow a little more grown-up.

However, she didn’t let herself get too excited – Rokam seemed very serious, so she wondered if there was more that needed to wait until they were well out of the way, or if it was a dangerous, or scary-sounding sort of mystery future. However, she didn’t mind that – she was perfectly happy to go with Rokam to find whatever the magical thing was, and almost couldn’t wait.

“Anything else? You look a bit shaken is all.” She added, sounding a little concerned, but mainly comforting. She liked the card dragon, and felt obliged to offer her support if it was needed.

“Hm… We could do,” said Rokam thoughtfully, beginning to scroll through his mind for what might come of going on a hunt for the item without thinking about the action. ‘I think we were somewhere… hilly.’ He fell quiet for a few moments, pondering this, before glancing back across to Raffietti. The sight of her with her fur all fluffed up took him aback, and he smiled at her warmly. He couldn’t help but think that it might be nice to have that much hair- he could get extremely cold sometimes. Scales weren’t a lot of good for trapping heat.

When she spoke, though, it quickly wiped the smile from his face, to be replaced with an expression of slight anxiety. “No, no,” he lied swiftly. “I just… It’s just a little bit of a shock to be hit with the future like that, that’s all.” A weak smile followed these words, as he turned away somewhat and gave a nervous shiver. He was terrible at keeping secrets; he didn’t think he’d be able to go long without giving more away, but he was hardly going to own up. The best thing would surely be to just move on the conversation- and hopefully his own thoughts- onto safer topics.

“So, the nearest hills are to the east, over the river Tarz… Might be a good place to start looking?”

Rokam seemed to act suspiciously in response to her question, but Raffietti just let it go. It wasn’t worth raising questions, and even if he was holding back parts of what he’d seen (which she couldn’t tell for certain anyway) he probably had a good reason. She nodded, agreeing that it must be weird to be hit by the future like that, and listened quietly.

“Ooh, I think I know where those are! Shall we go now?” she said excitedly, certain that she’d climbed one of the hills across the river Tarz before. Not that this meant she remembered what had been there, of course, but at least she knew which way to start walking. She bounced a little, before leaping to her feet and inching in the right direction, waiting for some signal to go from Rokam. She felt like he was probably more knowledgeable in this particular area – after all, it had been his vision, so she didn’t want to do anything without his say-so.

“Those hills are certainly the closest – it shouldn’t take too long to reach them really if we move quickly. A few days still, but it’ll be a good chance to get to know each other.” She added with a smile. She liked /knowing/ people – mild acquaintances were no fun; she figured it was better to just aim for ‘good friends’ instead.

"You do?" Rokam was visibly relieved, smiling widely at Raffietti. "Well that's good. I've never been to them, I know the general area but I couldn't count on getting it right." He paused for a moment here, wrinkling his nose as he thought. "There are... four main ones, right?" He didn't wait for an answer as he began to move in the direction which she was clearly indicating, padding along in a smooth trot which he could keep up for a few hours, at least. He travelled all over the place, pulled there by interesting events he had had visions of, and a few days travelling time didn't sound too bad, especially as he had her company.

After a moment, however, the second part of what she'd said- they could "get to know each other"- sunk in and he had to exert a huge amount of willpower not to cringe away. Oh yes, they'd be getting to know each other intimately, that was-

It took another chunk of willpower to force his thoughts away from that path. Oh, it was going to be a long few days, that was for
sure. He was going to have to think this through and come to terms with it at some point, but not now.
"So, uh, how do you know about the hills? You been there before?" he said, in a feeble attempt at small talk.

Raffi nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, four main ones and a fifth little on in the middle. The fifth one is too small to go on maps, but it’s nice.” She smiled, trying to remember a bit more about it. There wasn’t much to say – they were small hills, with a few trees, a few cliffs, and a little stream somewhere that feeds the river Tarz. She quickly snapped out of thinking about them as she noticed Rokam moving away, and bounded to his side, falling into pace with him easily. She had a good amount of energy still, built up by the excitement of the evening so far. However, she was no traveller, and after the first day the brisk pace would probably start to feel more tiring. She was sure she’d manage, though, and didn’t really mind as long as they both made it to the hills in one piece.

“Yeah, I went a while ago, with some healer-woman, collecting herbs. She just told me to follow the river until I saw them.” She grinned, almost giggling at the memory. “I think I was more interested in walking /in/ the river than beside it though – it was nice and shallow most of the way.” She added, smiling.

“Do you have any human friends?” she asked after a moment – reminded by the memory of the healer. She never stayed with humans for very long – she certainly didn’t have a permanent companion, but she knew some dragons liked to keep them around. Rokam didn’t seem like the sort who would let himself be ‘owned’ by anyone, but than again, she couldn’t tell for sure.

Rokam nodded slowly, trying to picture the scene from his vision and match it up to the landscape Raffi described.
“That sounds about right,” he said, twitching his horns thoughtfully. “Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a load of hills, anyway.” He’d never collected herbs- he knew next to nothing about them, nor did he know anyone who did, so he couldn’t really comment on that aspect of the story. Walking in rivers, on the other hand, was something he could identify with easily. “It’s particularly good for long journeys,” he grinned. “The water holds you up, all you have to do is move in the right direction. And you don’t even have to do that if you’re travelling with the current.”

He continued to smile slightly through the pause in conversation- but the expression fell away instantly at Raffietti’s question, to be replaced by a haunted and slightly nauseated one.
“I used to,” he said quietly, staring down at the floor. “She wasn’t actually human, she was a Nightling. Her name was Yarri, but she…” he swallowed, sounding slightly choked, and had to force out the last words. “She was eaten. In front of me.” No matter what else he accomplished, he’d always know that he’d failed there- he could have forseen it, could have stopped it. But no; she was gone now, and it was his fault.

Even if he didn’t miss her.

Raffietti nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly – it makes them much easier, and there are always a few fish to catch in case of food shortages too.” She smiled, glad that Rokam didn’t think it was as silly as the healer had. She felt like she could be more open around him than she could around the humans in the city; he seemed to appreciate her sense of humor unlike the bipeds.

Her bright enthusiasm died as Rokam’s expression fell. She hadn’t realized she’d hit a sore topic until then, and she wished she could claw the words back. She listened sympathetically as Rokam explained about Yarri, and it pained her when Rokam had to force his last words. “I’m so sorry.” She said quietly, nudging Rokam’s shoulder gently in what she hoped was a comforting manner, before falling back into pace beside him, in near-complete silence. She had never been that close to anyone, so she had no idea what it must have been like for Rokam to lose her.

It was about an hour before they stopped to make camp. There were a couple of trees around the riverbanks which offered some shelter, and the ground was soft with moss, so it seemed like an ideal place to spend the night. “Does this look alright to you?” Raffietti asked, pawing at the ground to see how soft it was. A little clump of moss came up in her claws, and she stopped quickly with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

“Oh yes, I’d never say no to a good bit of fish,” Rokam agreed, nodding fervently. “I get told I’m like a cat quite often, and there you go. More evidence to back it up.”

When Raffi apologised, Rokam changed to shaking his head, moving it slowly back and forth.
“It’s alright. You couldn’t have known, and I’ve mostly come to terms with it now. But it… it was hard.” He was thankful for the shoulder-bump, and touched his tail lightly to hers in acknowledgement of the gesture. The silence which followed for a time was also welcome, but after a while one of them made a remark and gradually the conversation started rolling again. And it was good to have that distraction after thinking about the incident for a little while.

~*~

The area which Raffietti suggested for their overnight resting place looked like an ideal location to him, and he reared up on his hind legs, rested his front paws on a tree trunk, and inspected its branches before briefly kneading his claws into its bark and then spinning round to stand once more. When he saw the lifeblood looking somewhat sheepish, he gave her a reassuring smile and sprawled himself out on the moss, rolling over on it a couple of times and enjoying the sensation of the moisture in it bubbling out and dampening his back. The soft plants were comfortable to lie on, and once he had stretched to his satisfaction he let out a contented huff and let his legs flop against his chest in a more natural position.
“This seems like a great place to me,” he said happily. “So… what brought you to Harglen, anyway?”

As if Rokam’s relaxed attitude had granted her permission, Raffietti settled herself down, curling into a little ball with her feathery tail pulled up over her front paws. It kept her warm, the big fluffy tail, meaning she was less likely to get caught in the cold. Perfect for sleeping outside, even if it didn’t happen too often.

“Hmm, that was a while ago, but I suppose it was just the quietness of it – I mean, it’s not exactly a big city, and it seemed like an adventure. Well, and I’d heard that they needed a healer, and that was pretty much all I was good at. Besides – it’s home.” She shrugged. She’s arrived in Harglen almost three years ago now – she could barely remember why she’d decided to go. It felt like home, except that she was still sleeping in a barn. But hey, the people were nice, and it did feel… homely. She wasn’t really much of a traveller – sure, she liked going on adventures and sleeping out every once in a while, but she always went /home/ afterwards. “What about you?” she asked, taking a moment to pluck a bit of twig out of her tail and re-fluff her fur.

From Rokam’s upside-down vantage point, Raffietti getting herself settled down looked strange to say the least. He watched with a smile on his face, and listened contentedly as she spoke.
“That’s true. It seems good and peaceful; I wouldn’t mind staying there for a while. How much healing can you do? How does that work? I really don’t know a lot about lifebloods.” His somewhat vacant smile turned to something slightly mischievous. “You think you could hurt people, too? I mean, not that you’d try it… Just a trick, you know, nothing big.” Oh, way to dig yourself a hole, Rokam. He winced inwardly, decided to make an attempt at ignoring his blunder, and continued,
“Well, I’ve been at a bit of a loose end for a while now. I could help Jaden with his research, but we don’t get on great- he’s a real bore- and I think I’d get in his way mostly. I guess I’m sort of looking for a place to stay for a while.”

Rolling back onto his front and lying with his front paws crossed over and his chin rested on them, he contemplated Raffietti. It wouldn’t be so bad to stay in Harglen with her. It was a nice town, with a good mix of landscapes around it. Not too far away from Didienne, if he was needed there for any reason. They could live there in the peace which was so unique to Dragons Cove for years, raising- ulp- their family. It would be a good life.

But judging by the vision he’d had, peace was not going to be on the agenda any time soon. And he was not happy about that, despite not generally being content with a dull life. Well, great. He was already falling for Raffi. That was what being able to see your future relationship with a person did, he supposed.

“Ooh, do stay! I mean, erm, if you’re not busy – it just gets pretty boring without any four-legged company.” Raffietti blurted quickly, not exactly sure where the words had come from. Luckily the question about how her healing worked distracted her from it, letting her stay relaxed.

“I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I can do a good few things. I can move blood about a bit, and if you move it the /right/ way, it speeds up the natural healing process.” She smiled, trying to cover the gaping holes in her understanding. She wished she knew why, but no one really knew what made them better naturally anyway, so she was pretty much in the dark. Then, the second part of Rokam’s comment caught her. “Hurt someone? I hadn’t even thought of it. Hmm, I suppose I probably /could/, but I wouldn’t – I don’t understand it enough to know what would happen.” She answered. She was full of mischief, but there wasn’t a mean bone in her body, so she could hardly imagine using her powers for anything but healing. It was an interesting idea though, and one she’d have to consider deeply.

“You’ve mentioned Jaden a couple of times now – who is he?” she added, cocking her head on one side curiously. She felt a little bit odd for a second. She wasn’t /jealous/ that Rokam spent time with anyone else, was she? That was ridiculous... but she couldn’t deny that the feeling matched. She ignored it, and listened intently, fascinated. She was usually so restless, but Rokam had a way of holding her attention perfectly.

A warm glow spread through Rokam at Raffietti’s enthusiastic response to his off-handed comment. It was good to know that somebody wanted him around- especially as he enjoyed spending time with that somebody.
“Well, I never really have anything I need to do,” he shrugged, trying not to show how delighted he was but instead maintaining a casual air. “I’m sure I could stay for a while.” He listened with genuine interest as the lifeblood tried to explain her powers to him. It was obvious that she was somewhat in the same boat as he was- he had no idea quite how he used his powers, he just had to fumble around in his head and go by instinct.

“I don’t really know how my powers work, either,” he admitted, kneading his claws into the moss. She didn’t seem to take his errant thought too badly, which couldn’t have been much more of a relief. “No, no, of course you wouldn’t,” he agreed, trying not to seem too hasty. The change of topic she offered was welcome, though it took him a moment to process the question.
“Hm? Jaden? Oh… didn’t I say? Sorry, I guess I wasn’t thinking. He’s another card dragon, the spade. He’s older than me and he’s really clever, he’s trying to find out more about our powers and the cards of the past. But he’s a little…” After a brief struggle to find the right word, Rokam continued, “Uptight? He kind of taught me a bit about my powers, anyway.” With another shrug, he lifted his head to look at Raffi more directly.

Raffietti smiled, glad that Rokam wasn’t in too much of a rush to leave. She’d miss him if he just vanished even then, so after this ‘adventure’ they had planned she’d probably be devastated.

It was a relief to hear that she wasn’t alone in not understanding her power. She liked to imagine little dots inside the blood, which helped her make sense of healing with it, but she didn’t have anything /real/ to go on. Rokam clearly had similar problems with his own unique magic. She listened with interest as he described Rokam, giving a little smile as he stumbled over the word ‘uptight’. “He sounds nice,” she said at last, “it must be nice to know another card dragon. There are plenty of Lifebloods about, but I’ve still managed not to cross paths with any for more than a few moments.” She smiled.

As she met Rokam’s gaze, and couldn’t stop herself from smiling again. His eyes had a very deep quality about them, which sent a little shiver down Rffietti’s spine. But it wasn’t unpleasant – she felt quite happy just looking back at him. She held his gaze for a moment, before blinking and giving herself a mental shake. “Here, it’s getting late – we should probably get some sleep soon.” She said, re-shuffling her position in the soft moss to curl her fluffy tail in a bit closer, using her speech and the movement to break the moment of tension. She felt like things were happening suddenly fast, and needed some time to think.

It was refreshing to spend time with Raffietti- she was older than him, and maybe a little more mature, but equally she wasn’t serious all the time or boring in the least. And in a world disappointingly full of pessimists or people who were generally not uplifting to spend time with, she was bright and cheerful pretty much all the time, it seemed. A hint of a smile lingered on his face as he replied,
“I’m not sure nice would be the word, he gets grumpy quite easily… But it was good to have him help me with my powers. I hadn’t really been able to live very easily with so little control. Those really sudden visions, like I had in the tavern… He doesn’t get them, but I used to have them a lot when I couldn’t stop any of my power. And people really don’t like it when you suddenly blurt out how they’re going to die, I found that out the hard way.” He looked somewhat sheepish and embarrassed for a moment, dropping his gaze before brightening and looking back up. “You’re going to know a lifeblood though, one day.”

Neither of them spoke as they looked at each other, and he probably wouldn’t have moved if Raffietti hadn’t first. Rokam started somewhat, before yawning widely and giving a firm nod of agreement.
“We should, walking all day like that’s a bit tiring.” He wriggled slightly, trying to make himself a nook in the spongey moss, before making a small growl of irritation and hopping to his feet. He walked in a few tight circles, trampling himself out a bed, and then flopped onto it. The air was starting to get cold and his leathery skin with its tiny scales didn’t offer a lot of protection, so he coiled himself up into a circle and used the flat club on his tail to shield his face from a breeze which was brushing against him.
“So… well, goodnight then, I guess? Sleep well, Raffietti.”

“Ah, well grumpy can sometimes go along with nice – it’s just harder to see.” Raffietti replied brightly. She thought to herself for a moment, nodding along with Rokam’s words. His voice was kind of soothing, hypnotic almost. She felt like she could listen to if fore-

She halted in her thoughts. She was acting like a juvenile, letting herself go dizzy and ridiculous like that. She forced herself to stop daydreaming, and tuned into the conversation properly just in time to hear Rokam’s last few words. She nodded, smiling, before settling back.

“Travelling about is always tiring, yes, and we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow too.” She commented, relaxing off properly as Rokam started to get himself comfortable. She stretched out her legs, arching her back to get a click out of it, before curling back up into a messy, loose ball, with her tail draped over her feet to keep them cosy. She blinked sleepily and smiled at Rokam, before giving a yawn. “Goodnight Rokam, sweet dreams.” She smiled, closing her eyes and snuggling into the soft moss.

Raffietti fell asleep quite quickly, and she slept soundly all night. However, she must have been having restless dreams, as she rolled over at least a dozen times, squashing the moss down in an ever-wider circle. By the time morning arrived, she was snoring softly, leaning against Rokam’s side, with her tail covering a bit of both of the - utterly oblivious.

“That’s true.” It was easy to let Raffi have that much, anyway- though he still wasn’t entirely convinced in Jaden’s case. The older dragon never seemed to have time to relax and have some fun. Rokam watched her smile as she spoke to him, beaming vaguely back.
“Y’know, you can just call me Ro if you want,” he advised her as he fell into sleep, tucking his paws right up to his body to keep them as warm as possible.

His dreams were much the same as normal, snippets of scenes from the lives of hundreds of people he would never see. He had never been too much of a restless sleeper unless he was dreaming of something particularly eventful, but he was too cold, the damp moss leeching away his heat from below. So when Raffietti rolled over to him, he unconsciously leant into her, tucking his paws under the loose fur of her tail and pressing his face into the warm curve of her neck.

Waking up was a pleasant experience. He felt warm and refreshed at once and the lifeblood’s fur brushed lightly against his nose in a ticklish sort of way. Enjoying the sensation of company, he snuggled closer into her side- and woke up properly.
That was less pleasant, coming as quite a shock. He sneezed as the light hairs grazed his nose again, before peering round at Raffietti’s face to see if she was awake yet. He couldn’t really tell; it was half-hidden under her tail fur where he’d dislodged it as he woke. Well, this was awkward. He shuffled hastily away, shivering as the cool morning air hit his side when the other dragon had warmed it previously, and promptly began to rub his face against the moss in order to clean it and clear his head a little. Being so close to Raffi as he slept had meant that his dreams had been based largely on her future and how it involved him, especially once she had rolled close enough that they were touching- and that really wasn’t something he needed to be thinking about as he talked to her.

» {A Reluctant Partnership} The Demon's Revenge .::]Apollo & Arty[::.
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